Planning A Great Summer Calendar

Here are a few great tips to have a great summer youth ministry program.

Plan Ahead - Here’s some good news right up front: If you’re thinking about summer now, you’re in good shape. Next year, start even earlier! If you plan in advance, even in broad strokes, it will greatly improve the chances of your summer’s big ideas becoming a reality. Resist the false belief that waiting until the pressure is on makes you better—it doesn’t; it just makes you more frantic.

Change Things Up - Get out of the school year rhythms and programs and shake things up. Always have youth group inside? What about taking it "under the stars." Always have small group? Change it up and go with midweek Bible study. Some are allowed to try some new things and experiment in the short term effectively. If it doesn't work out, you don't have to keep doing it. You might even stumble onto something that will make your youth ministry even better.

Free is Always Better - Summer events can get very expensive. Try to find as many free or low-cost activities and programs that you can. Your parents will love you for it.

Focus on Central Event - Summer is a great opportunity to do a big event and get excitement for the fall. Summer music festivals, a weeklong camp are great examples of this.

If it Worked, Use it Again - If you did something in previous summers that was a hit, then bring it back. When I was in the local church my students loved going to this one Christian music festival. So every year we kept it on the schedule.

Borrow from Everyone Else - Why reinvent the wheel? Scour the Internet for youth ministry blogs, game ideas, tips and anything else you can find and use it. Ask members of your congregation about their favorite memories of things they did during the summer as a student, you might be able to re-create it.

Don't Forget Your Family - We had youth and young adult ministry spend a good bit of time in the summer running from one activity to the next. Take care of yourself and make time for your family. There is always one more ministry thing you can do, however, if you don't set boundaries you'll burn out and hurt the one’s you love the most.

Start Planning Your Back-to-School Event - I know this is supposed to be about summer calendaring, but if you don't make a plan now for the fall kickoff, your summer and winter may just swallow it whole. You don't have to plan every little detail, but you need to start getting an idea of what you want to do and make the necessary preparation in advance.

Maximize Relationships - Your students are out of school. If you spend your entire summer running yourself ragged, you're gonna miss that sweet one-on-one time that you can only get during the summer. Find a safe way that you can hang out with your students. Go out for ice cream or invite them to help with your planning. Don't miss this opportunity to form relationships that will pay big dividends later on.